Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports the Education Legislation Amendment (Up-front Payments Tuition Protection) Bill 2020 and the Higher Education (Up-front Payments Tuition Protection Levy) Bill 2020. In November last year, the shadow minister for education and training wrote to the minister, asking him to consider exactly these changes. Labor has voiced our concern that the exclusion of domestic upfront-fee-paying students from the tuition protection scheme would create a complex situation where different students have different rights and protections. It may have taken nearly 10 months, but we are pleased that the government has legislated to tie up these loose ends. We welcome the practical effect of the legislation to create simpler arrangements for students and processes for decision-making, student placement and loan recrediting. We commend these bills to the Senate.